When we got to Marrakech we were warmly received by the owner of our Riad. She served us some Muslim Whisky (mint tea) with homemade cookies. She only spoke French so it seemed that we were in for a long tea time but we found some common ground thanks to my limited Spanish skills. We had a lovely dialogue, each understanding about half of what the other said! 
As we sipped our tea, we heard the call to worship over the speakers of the mosque. The call happens 5 times a day and can be heard from everywhere in the city.
This is a picture of the bathroom in our room... seemed cool enough to warrant a blog photo.
Moroccans use Dihrams. The exchange rate was about 12 Dh to 1 GBP. All of these Dh are equivalent to about 200 GBP.
After we freshened up a bit we made our way to the Jemma El Fina Square where we found lunch.
Our restaurant overlooked the main square... that's the mosque in the background.
After lunch we walked through the Jemma El Fina. I was attacked by a woman doing henna. She grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go despite my most fervent refusal. She then tried to demand 450 Dh for her job. We gave her 100 and then desperately tried to find a place to wash my hand off as I didn't think Jen Millsaps would appreciate my tattooed hand in her wedding photos!
This nice kid at one of the many orange stands in the square motioned us over and cleaned my hand off. He was so kind we bought some fresh squeezed O.J., the best I've ever had!
We got the henna off as quickly as possible but it still left it's mark. Thank God it faded by the wedding!
After spending some time in the main square we started to wander.
After our exploring we stopped for some more mint tea... which Brad fell in love with!
At tea my left eye got itchy and I had to take my contact out. I walked around like this for the rest of the evening.
We had dinner on a terrace overlooking the mosque.
I tried to fit in with the locals on our walk home... unfortunately, I think that my arm candy gave me away! 
We ended our evening with some more mint tea on the rooftop of our riad. The perfect end to a near perfect travel day!
On our second day in Marrakech we had a leisurely breakfast on the rooftop terrace of our riad... mint tea, oily crepes, jam, bread rolls and yogurt laid out like a feast. The sun was shining!!! Oh sun... how we'd missed thee! Your rays are like heaven and your light, a gift from God.
Just a pic of how beautiful life can be when the sun shows its heavenly face.
We met Mike and Karla (Mike is a teacher at my school and Karla is his girlfriend) in the Jemma El Fina Square (The main square in Marrakech) and set off to do some exploring.
After finding our way to the tombs, we wound our way through the ever busy side streets of Marrakech. It was fun to explore without much of an agenda (no museums to que for or monuments to stress out about getting to!). When we'd had enough of the frantic streets we took a caleche ride to the XXX Gardens.
The gardens were insanely beautiful. I loved the color scheme in the garden, it is perhaps my favorite memory from Marrakech! The bright blues, oranges, and yellows on the walls and pots made the greens in the gardens pop. The contrast between the frenetic streets of Marrakech and the calm serenity of the gardens was a pleasant surprise.
Our stomachs started to rumble in the gardens so we grabbed lunch at the cafe inside.
After lunch we walked back to the city center and wandered around trying to find the souks (millions of alleys filled with Moroccan vendors selling wire lanterns, brightly colored shoes, jewelry, soaps and spices). Each vendor you pass yells something at you to try to get you to come to their stand. If they intrigue you, you can start to haggle... typically you listen to their offer, offer a third of it...go back and forth for a while...and then pay about half of what they originally asked.
The market was exhilarating. The drums were intoxicating and the sights, sounds, and foods were all intriguing and exotic. We had an amazing time in Marrakech and a fabulous Valentine's Day.
Just a pic of how beautiful life can be when the sun shows its heavenly face.
We met Mike and Karla (Mike is a teacher at my school and Karla is his girlfriend) in the Jemma El Fina Square (The main square in Marrakech) and set off to do some exploring.
After finding our way to the tombs, we wound our way through the ever busy side streets of Marrakech. It was fun to explore without much of an agenda (no museums to que for or monuments to stress out about getting to!). When we'd had enough of the frantic streets we took a caleche ride to the XXX Gardens.
The gardens were insanely beautiful. I loved the color scheme in the garden, it is perhaps my favorite memory from Marrakech! The bright blues, oranges, and yellows on the walls and pots made the greens in the gardens pop. The contrast between the frenetic streets of Marrakech and the calm serenity of the gardens was a pleasant surprise.
Our stomachs started to rumble in the gardens so we grabbed lunch at the cafe inside.
After lunch we walked back to the city center and wandered around trying to find the souks (millions of alleys filled with Moroccan vendors selling wire lanterns, brightly colored shoes, jewelry, soaps and spices). Each vendor you pass yells something at you to try to get you to come to their stand. If they intrigue you, you can start to haggle... typically you listen to their offer, offer a third of it...go back and forth for a while...and then pay about half of what they originally asked. After a bit of shopping/haggling we took a break back at our riad. We met Mike and Karla in the Square again and set out to find dinner. After much exploring we ended up on a roof terrace that overlooked the main square and the night market. After our tagines and cous cous, we headed into the night market. We played some games, listened in on some drum circles, walked through the food stands and had some mint tea.
The market was exhilarating. The drums were intoxicating and the sights, sounds, and foods were all intriguing and exotic. We had an amazing time in Marrakech and a fabulous Valentine's Day.
2 comments:
The city looks and sounds brilliant! Glad you had a wonderful time - and came home safe.
Oh, I want to go to, everything is so colorful!!!!
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